JP4420617B2 - Welding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and device for welding pin contacts (17) and socket contacts (35) to an optical waveguide (13), the welding device (41) has a contact loading station (49), a contact transport carriage (101), a laser welding device (57), and an electrical control unit (75). The contact loading station (49) has a socket contact transfer device and a pin contact transfer device. The contact transport carriage (101) has a pin contact holder (105) and a socket contact holder (103). The contact transport carriage (101) is displaceable between the contact loading station (49) and the laser welding station (57). The elecrical control unit (75) controls the combination and number of socket contacts (35) and pin contacts (17) transferred from the socket contact transfer device to the socket contact holder (103) and from the pin contact transfer device to the pin contact holder (105) without having to re-tool the welding device (41). <IMAGE>

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for welding a socket contact or pin contact to an optical wave guide, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for welding a plastic contact to a plastic light guide.
[0002]
[Prior art]
It is known from Patent Document 1 that a plastic sleeve-shaped ferrule on which a light guide is formed is fixed to the light guide by a laser welding method. Ferrules as contacts are also known and can take the form of socket contacts or pin contacts. Typically, since one end of the light guide has a socket contact and the other end of the light guide has a pin contact, the ends of the light guide can be fitted to each other.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
German Patent Application Publication No. 199119428 [0004]
Assembly machines with welding equipment already exist for the production of light guides. In the assembly machine, socket contacts or pin contacts are welded to both ends of the light guide. The socket contacts and pin contacts are supplied from a supply reel on a narrow plastic material part that integrally forms a strip with them. When the contact is unwound from the supply reel, the contact is separated from the strip by a cutting device and placed in the contact holder. Next, one end of the light guide is introduced into the contact, and the contact is welded to the end.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Existing welding devices generally have a modular construction and can only weld either socket contacts or pin contacts to the end of the waveguide. In order to change the object of welding from a socket contact to a pin contact or vice versa, it is necessary to change all of the tools or modules. Replacement of the welding apparatus requires setup time to lower the operating rate of the welding apparatus. An example of such a welding apparatus is manufactured by the applicant under the name “MOST Laser Module”.
[0006]
Therefore, it is desired to develop a welding apparatus capable of welding a desired socket contact or pin contact to the end portion of each light guide without incurring replacement of the welding apparatus and lowering the operating rate.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a welding apparatus for welding a pin contact and a socket contact to a light guide. The welding apparatus has a contact loading station, a contact transfer carriage, a laser welding apparatus, and an electric control unit. The contact loading station has a socket contact transfer device and a pin contact transfer device. The contact carrying carriage has a pin contact holder and a socket contact holder. The contact transport carriage can be displaced between the contact loading station and the laser welding station. The electrical control unit controls the combination and number of socket contacts and pin contacts that are transferred from the socket contact transfer device to the socket contact holder and from the pin contact moving device to the pin contact holder, respectively, without requiring replacement of the welding device. .
[0008]
The invention further relates to a method for welding pin contacts and socket contacts to a light guide. The socket contact and the pin contact are respectively transferred to the socket contact holder and the pin contact holder arranged on the contact carrying carriage. The contact moving carriage is displaced to place socket contacts and pin contacts to receive the light guide. The light guide is welded to the socket contact and pin contact at the laser welding station. The combination and number of socket contacts and pin contacts transferred to the socket contact holder and pin contact holder are controlled by the electric control unit without requiring replacement of the welding apparatus.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a structural unit in which a pin contact is provided at one end of a light guide. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structural unit of FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structural unit of FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a light guide provided with two pin contacts. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a light guide provided with one pin contact and one socket contact. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the welding apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a partial front view showing the welding apparatus of FIG. 6 in the first stage. FIG. 8 is a partial front view showing the welding apparatus of FIG. 6 in the second stage. FIG. 9 is a front view showing a laser welding station of the welding apparatus of FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic partial plan view showing the welding apparatus of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a side view of the welding apparatus of FIG.
[0010]
First, the structural unit 11 having the light guide 13 and one or both of the pin contact 17 and the socket contact 35 will be described with reference to FIGS. Next, with reference to FIG. 6 thru | or FIG. 9, the welding apparatus 41 and the welding method of 1st Embodiment are demonstrated. Then, with reference to FIG.10 and FIG.11, the welding apparatus 41 and welding method of 2nd Embodiment are demonstrated. It should be noted that the individual parts and structural units of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-11 are not described in detail herein because their structure and mode of operation are known. Individual parts and structural units are known from the above-mentioned "MOST Laser Module" manufactured by the applicant.
[0011]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the structural unit 11 includes a light guide 13 and a pin contact 17. The light guide 13 has an inner cladding 19 and an outer cladding 21. The inner cladding 19 and the outer cladding 21 are removed from one end 15 of the light guide 13. The one end 15 has an end face 25 which is retracted to a position indicated by 31 with respect to the contact end face 29, and protects the end face 25 which is easily damaged and optically important. In an actual embodiment, the retraction amount of the light guide 13 is 0.01 mm to 0.1 mm.
[0012]
The pin contact 17 is disposed at one end 15 of the light guide 13. The pin contact 17 is made of a plastic material that is more transparent than the material of the inner cladding 19. The pin contact 17 has an inner diameter that substantially corresponds to the outer diameter of the inner cladding 19. The contact end surface 29 is not flush with the one end 15 of the light guide 13. The pin contact 17 has a flange 23 having an end surface that comes into contact with one end of the outer cladding 21. The flange 23 can also act as a stop for the socket contact when the pin contact 17 is fitted with the socket contact 35 (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2).
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 3, the outer periphery of the inner cladding 19 and the inner periphery of the pin contact 17 are laser-welded at a welding point 33. In FIG. 3, the inner periphery of the inner cladding 19 and the pin contact 17 is welded at three welding points. Since the pin contact 17 is made of a plastic material that is more transparent than the material of the inner cladding 19, upon emission, the laser light almost completely penetrates the pin contact 17, so that the radial maximum of the inner cladding 19 of the light guide 13 is achieved. Weld in the outer edge area.
[0014]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the light guide 13 in a state in which the pin contact 17 is welded to each end. FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of the light guide 13 in a state where the pin contact 17 is welded to one end and the socket contact 35 is welded to the other end. In some cases, socket contacts 35 are welded to both ends of the light guide 13. The pin contact 17 takes a slightly different form as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 than in FIGS.
[0015]
Next, the welding apparatus 41 according to the first embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 6, the welding apparatus 41 includes an electric control unit 75 and a base plate 43 on which a set panel 69 is attached and a laser welding station 57 and a contact loading station 49 are provided in the center. The laser welding station 57 has a housing 59. The wall 61 of the housing 59 has two light guide feeding funnels 63. A bracket 65 is provided on the cover 67 of the housing 59. The bracket 65 includes electrical data lines and control lines that connect the set panel 69 to the remainder of the welding apparatus 41. The set panel 69 has a keypad 71 and a screen 73.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 9, the laser welding station has a single laser 109 that can be displaced. It is also possible to provide two or more lasers according to the module width instead of a single laser that can be displaced. When two lasers are used in the illustrated embodiment, the module width is 55 mm, and when three lasers are used, the module width is 27.5 mm. The laser 109 generates a laser beam 111 and is disposed on a laser carriage 113 that can be displaced in the horizontal direction.
[0017]
The electric control unit 75 is connected to the remaining portion of the welding apparatus 41 by an electric cable 77 (only the cable end is shown in FIG. 6). The electrical control unit 75 has a programmable control device (not shown). The programmable control device is preferably in the form of a microprocessor or microcontroller, and either one or both of a specific control program selection and a specific set of control parameters is possible by the set panel 69. .
[0018]
Near the laser welding station 57 is a contact loading station 49. The contact loading station 49 is disposed on the base plate 43 on a plate 47 provided on a support portion 45 extending from the base plate 43. The plate 47 has a stand 51. The upper end of the stand 51 holds the socket contact supply reel 53 and the pin contact supply reel 55. The socket contact supply reel 53 and the pin contact supply reel 55 may be located above the contact loading station 49 as shown in FIG. 6, or below the contact loading station 49 as shown in FIGS. May be located.
[0019]
As best shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the socket contact supply reel 53 and the pin contact supply reel 55 are wound with a strip 79 of either the pin contact 17 or the socket contact 35. The strip 79 is formed by connecting adjacent contacts 17 and 35 with a connection web 77. Since the welding apparatus 41 described herein is basically intended to weld plastic contacts to plastic light guides, the pin contact 17, socket contact 35 and connection web 77 are the same plastic material. The connection web 77 and the contacts 17 and 35 held therebetween are formed as an integral article. The strip 79 is transported in a controlled manner via a transport duct 81 to a strip feed roller 83 for socket contact feed or a strip feed roller 85 for pin contact feed. Each strip 79 deflects during feeding from a substantially vertical conveying direction to a substantially horizontal conveying direction.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 7, the pin contact separation device 87 and the socket contact separation device 89 are located near the contact loading station 49. The separation devices 87 and 89 have cutting punches 91 and 93 that are movable in the vertical direction, respectively. On both sides of each cutting punch 91, 93 there is a connecting web holding-down device 95 and a cutter 97 on the opposite side. The cutting punches 91 and 93 and the cutter 97 on the opposite side shear the connection web 77 disposed on each side of the contacts 17 and 35 when the cutting punches 91 and 93 move upward. The discharge duct 99 is disposed in a space formed between the two connecting web pressing devices 95 facing each other of the separating devices 87 and 89. The discharge duct 99 discharges the connection web 77 cut from the contact strip 79.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 7, the contact transport carriage 101 is disposed on the separating devices 87 and 89. The contact transport carriage 101 can be displaced in the horizontal direction (in FIG. 7) with respect to the separating devices 87 and 89. A large number of contact holders 103 and 105 are arranged on the contact transport carriage 101. In the illustrated embodiment, four contact holders 103 and 105 are arranged. The two contact holders are socket contact holders 103, and the other two contact holders are pin contact holders 105. The socket contact holder 103 and the pin contact holder 105 are alternately arranged along the carriage displacement direction at a predetermined distance from each other. Each contact holder 103, 105 has a clamp arm pair 107. Each clamp arm pair 107 has two clamp arms. The clamp arm pair 107 accommodates the pin contact 17 or the socket contact 35 and temporarily and elastically fixes the contacts 17 and 35. The shape and interval of the clamp arm of each clamp arm pair 107 matches the outer shape of the pin contact 17 or the socket contact 35, that is, the socket contact holder 103 and the pin contact holder 105 temporarily hold the socket contact 35 or the pin contact 17. Suitable for fixing.
[0022]
The intermediate distance between the two cutting punches 91 and 93 is 27.5 mm. This center interval is the same for the contact holders 103 and 105 adjacent to each other. For this reason, the center distance between the pin contact holder 105 and the two socket contact holders 103 is 55 mm. However, other dimensions and spacing are possible.
[0023]
One of the two pin contact holders 105 is aligned with the pin cutting punch 91 or the two socket contact holders 103 are used to transfer the contacts 17 and 35 from the separating devices 87 and 89 to the contact transport carriage 101. The contact transport carriage 101 is displaced so that one of them is aligned with the socket cutting punch 93 or both are aligned. By moving the cutting punches 91, 93 upward, the associated pin contact 17 or socket contact 35 is sheared from the strip 79 and transferred directly to the pin contact holder 105 or socket contact holder 103 disposed thereon. The The contacts 17 and 35 are securely held by the clamp arm 107 which is elastically pretensioned.
[0024]
Since the pin contact holder 105 matches the shape of the pin contact 17 and the socket contact holder 103 matches the shape of the socket contact 35, the pin contact 17 and the socket contact 35 go to the contact loading station 49 in each operation cycle of the welding apparatus 41. Can be transported. Desired two pin contacts 17, two socket contacts 35, or one pin contact 17 and one socket contact 35, respectively, two pin contact holders 105, two socket contact holders 103, or It is also possible to transfer to one pin contact holder 105 out of two and one socket contact holder 103 out of two. In this manner, the two pin contacts 17, the two socket contacts 35, or the one pin contact 17 and the one socket contact 35 can be welded to the end 15 of the light guide 13 as selected. Since it is possible for the program to select different contact pairs for each operating cycle, there is no need for replacement.
[0025]
After one or both of the pin contact 17 and the socket contact 35 are loaded into the contact holders 103 and 105 at the loading position shown in FIG. 7, the contact carrying carriage 101 has one of the two contact holders 103 and 105 as a laser. It is displaced to a position aligned with the beam 111. When the contact transport carriage 101 is displaced, the center lines of the two contact holders 103 and 105 are aligned with the center line of the end 15 of the light guide 13. Here, the light guide 13 is disposed by the light guide feeding funnel portion 63. Both end portions 15 are introduced into the contacts 17 and 35 by a light guide feeding device (not shown). Since each contact 17, 35 and each end portion 15 has a predetermined axial relative position, a desired retraction amount 31 (see FIG. 1) can be obtained with a desired accurate tolerance.
[0026]
After the end 15 of the light guide 13 is introduced into the contact holders 103 and 105, welding is performed. The contacts 17 and 35 arranged in alignment with the laser 109 are welded to the end 15 of the light guide 13. Next, the laser 109 moves to align with the contacts 17 and 35 held by the other contact holders 103 and 105. The contacts 17 and 35 are welded to the end 15 of the light guide 13. The movement of the laser carriage 113 is controlled by an obliquely extending control groove 115 that engages with a control pin (not shown). The control pin can be moved in the vertical direction by a drive unit (not shown). The control channel 115 is designed so that the laser carriage 113 can be displaced at least a horizontal distance between the two socket contact holders 103 or the two pin contact holders 105 of the contact transport carriage 101, ie 55 mm in the illustrated embodiment. Is done.
[0027]
The operation cycle of the welding apparatus 41 according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 will be described in detail. The electrical control unit 75 is programmed to control that two pin contacts 17 or one pin contact 17 and one socket contact 35 are welded to the end 15 of the light guide 13 during the work cycle. The The contact transport carriage 101 reaches an appropriate loading position. When the two pin contacts 17 are welded to the end 15 of the light guide 13, the contact carrying carriage 101 moves until the left pin contact holder 105 is aligned with the pin cutting punch 91. The left pin contact holder 105 is loaded with the pin contact 17 sheared from the strip 79. The contact conveyance carriage 101 moves until the right pin contact holder 105 is aligned with the pin cutting punch 91. Another pin contact 17 is sheared from the strip 79 and transferred to the right pin contact holder 105. When the two socket contacts 35 are welded to the end portion of the light guide 13, the left socket holder 103 and then the right socket holder 103 are loaded one after another, and the socket contact 35 is connected to the strip 79 by the socket cutting punch 93. The procedure is the same except that it is sheared from. When the pin contact 17 is welded to one end 15 of the light guide 13 and the socket contact 35 is welded to the other end 15 of the light guide 13, the pin contact 17 is transferred from the strip 79 to the left pin contact holder 105, and the socket contact. 35 is transferred from the strip 79 to the socket contact holder 105 on the left side.
[0028]
The contact carrying carriage 101 moves to a position where the left side of the two contact holders 103 and 105 is aligned with the laser beam 111 and the waveguide feeding funnel 63. The end 15 of the light guide 13 is introduced into the contacts 17 and 35 through the waveguide feeding funnel 63. After the end portions 15 of the light guides 13 are received by the contacts 17 and 35, the end portions 15 of the two light guides 13 are fixed to the contacts 17 and 35 by welding, respectively. One of the two contacts 17, 35 is first welded to the end 15. Next, the laser 109 is displaced to a position corresponding to the other contacts 17 and 35 by the horizontal carriage 113. Next, the other contacts 17 and 35 are welded to the end 15. The resulting structural unit 11 is gripped by a gripping arm (not shown) and removed from the welding device 41.
[0029]
Next, with reference to FIG.10 and FIG.11, the welding apparatus 41 of 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated in detail. The welding device 41 of the first embodiment has the maximum operating cycle speed, that is, the operating cycle rotational speed. An operating cycle speed exceeding this speed can be achieved by the welding apparatus 41 of the second embodiment.
[0030]
The welding apparatus 41 of the second embodiment has a laser welding station 57 similar to that of the first embodiment, but has two contact loading stations 49a and 49b as shown in FIG. Contact loading stations 49 a and 49 b are arranged on both sides of the laser welding station 57. Each contact loading station 49a, 49b has the elements and structural units described in connection with FIGS. 6-9, respectively, except that the two contact transport carriages 101a, 101b each have only two contact holders. . Since each contact transport carriage 101a, 101b has only three contact holders, the light guide 13 uses either two pin contacts 17 or one pin contact 17 and one socket contact 35. Limited to manufacturing. The light guide 35 in which the socket contacts 35 are welded to both ends 15 cannot be manufactured. The contact transport carriages 101a and 101b include two pin contact holders 105 and one socket contact holder 103, respectively. As a result, the structural unit 11 according to FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 can be manufactured using each contact transport carriage 101a, 101b.
[0031]
As best shown in FIG. 11, the left contact transport carriage 101 a is disposed on a straight rail 117. At each of the two positions where the laser 109 can be displaced, one of the two feeding funnels 63 is arranged. Each feeding funnel part 63 has an upper feeding funnel part half 119a and a lower feeding funnel part half 119b. The feeding funnel part halves 119a and 119b are formed at the lower ends of the upper feeding funnel part plates 121a and 121b, respectively. The two feeding funnel plates 121a, 121b are in an open position where the end 15 of the light guide 13 can pass through each feeding funnel 63, and a clamping position where the resulting structural unit 11 after welding is clamped. The upper cylinder drive part 123a or the lower cylinder drive part 123b can be moved. The upper feeding funnel-shaped part plate 121 a moves by being interconnected with the toggle lever 125.
[0032]
Now, the operation cycle of the welding apparatus 41 according to the second embodiment of FIGS. 10 and 11 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 10, since the loading stations 49a and 49b operate by a push-pull method that has been displaced, one of the contact transport carriages 101a and 101b is disposed at the loading stations 49a and 49b, and the other is the laser station 57. Placed in. For example, in FIG. 10, the right contact transport carriage 101b is disposed at the right loading position 49b and the contacts 17 and 35 are loaded, the left contact transport carriage 101a is disposed at the right laser station 57 and the light guide. 13 shows a stage where both ends 15 of 13 are introduced into contacts 17 and 35 and welded. After welding, the resulting structural unit 11 is removed from the welding apparatus 41, the left contact transport carriage 101a is displaced to the left loading station 49a, and the right contact transport carriage 101b loaded with the contacts 17, 35 is the laser station. 57 is displaced. Both ends 15 of the light guide 13 are introduced and welded to contacts 17 and 35 held by the right contact transport carriage 101b, while the left contact transport carriage 101a is loaded with the contacts 17 and 35.
[0033]
When providing the welding apparatus 41 of the second embodiment having two loading stations 49a and 49b, the loading stations 49a and 49b are associated with two supply reels 53 and 55, respectively. Accordingly, the operating cycle speed is approximately twice that of the welding apparatus 41 of the first embodiment having only a single loading station 49.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a structural unit in which a pin contact is provided at one end of a light guide.
2 is a perspective view showing the structural unit of FIG. 1. FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view of the structural unit of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a light guide provided with two pin contacts.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a light guide provided with one pin contact and one socket contact.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the welding apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a partial front view showing the welding apparatus of FIG. 6 in the first stage. FIG.
8 is a partial front view showing the welding apparatus of FIG. 6 in the second stage.
9 is a front view showing a laser welding station of the welding apparatus of FIG. 6;
FIG. 10 is a schematic partial plan view showing a welding apparatus according to a second embodiment.
11 is a side view of the welding apparatus of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
13 Light Guide 17 Pin Contact 35 Socket Contact 41 Welding Device 49 Contact Loading Station 57 Laser Welding Device 75 Electric Control Unit 101 Contact Transfer Carriage 103 Socket Contact Holder 105 Pin Contact Holder

Claims (2)

A welding device for welding a socket contact and a pin contact to a light guide,
A first contact loading station having a socket contact transfer device and a pin contact transfer device;
A first contact transport carriage having a pin contact holder and a socket contact holder, and being displaceable between the first contact loading station and the laser welding station;
An electric control unit,
The electrical control unit includes the socket contact and the pin that are transferred from the socket contact transfer device to the socket contact holder and from the pin contact transfer device to the pin contact holder, respectively, without requiring replacement of the welding device. Control the combination and number of contacts,
A second contact loading station having a second contact transport carriage;
The first contact loading station and the second contact loading station are transported and displaced by a push-pull method, and when the first contact transfer carriage is disposed at the laser welding station, the second contact transfer carriage is The first contact transport carriage is disposed at the first contact loading station as disposed at the second contact loading station and when the second contact transport carriage is disposed at the laser welding station. A welding apparatus characterized by operating as described above. The pin contact holder and said socket contact holder, wherein the pin contacts to the pin contact holder in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a clamping arm pairs accommodating and fixing the said socket contact into the socket contact holder welding apparatus.

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